Security in Mexico City

Do Not Use Street Taxi Cabs

The number one recommendation SolutionsAbroad can give you to keep safe in Mexico City is to never, never use street taxi cabs, which are usually green VW beetles. Why? Because Mexico City's most common crime is the "Kidnapping Express."

What is the Kidnapping Express?

In the kidnapping express scenario, criminals will hold you at gun-point inside a taxi cab that you hailed down from the street. They work against the clock by forcing you to withdraw money from your credit card, whisking you from one ATM to another. We recommended that you never carry your credit card with you. Kidnapping express may take place anywhere within the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City.

Modus Operandi

The taxi cab you enter off the street may be a so-called "pirate" or "gypsy," driven by a trained gang member and followed by a second taxi cab, from which other criminals jump out to kidnap you. Kidnapping express normally takes place rapidly. If you are grabbed just before midnight, the assailants will hold you longer. After 12 a.m., ATMs will accept a new withdrawal. Therefore you will be whisked around town before and after midnight in order to steal the most money from your credit cards or ATM cards.

Your cab driver may fake an engine failure, signaling those behind him to proceed into your car at a red light. When they enter your cab, you will be pushed against the ground as they take your valuables. Their target, again, is to go to an ATM machine and empty your account. Should your banking account be in U.S. dollars or another foreign currency, this is a profitable criminal activity. Once they accomplish their goal, they will probably let you off in one of the poor areas of the city, penniless.

What To Do if You Become a Victim of Kidnapping Express

Cancel your credit card and report the theft of your cellular phone. Contact your embassy or consulate and report the problem to the consular section. They will normally tell you where to file a police report.

Crime Prevention

You can avoid this entire ordeal. Follow these recommendations: Identify your neighborhood sitio ("location") cabs, which are dispatched from a taxi stand. Use these taxis instead of the street taxis. Their rates are quite reasonable. More expensive 24-hour radio taxi service is available at 5516-6020 to 34, 5571-9344, and 5571-3600. Have these numbers with you at all times.

By Mario Gonzalez-Roman, a retired Foreign Service National Security Advisor to the United States Embassy, currently a private Security Consultant, columnist at www.securitycornermexico.com

Return to top